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If you are in a rush and want to learn how to say "Where can I find a good restaurant." this is fine. It is, however, riddled with errors that will throw the beginner off track. A serious student will not get a solid foundation with this course. If you have the time and are dedicated to really learning Portuguese, get the real thing - Mastering Portuguese.
Pronunciation exercises were great. Bought this course before traveling to Brazil for the first time and it was a blast to use. Already fluent in Spanish and French it was easy to pick up. I have been polishing up on the language through novels, movies and interacting with local speakers. Perhaps not the preferred course if this is the first "other" language you're learning.
I used this course and it was fine. However, I think that the Pimsleur courses are much more usable. I have since bought a 2nd home in Brazil, and speak quasi-fluent Portugese. I listen to all the different courses I have for refreshers from time to time, and I consistently find that the Pimsleur program is superior.However, this is a fine supplement, and you can learn from it things not on the Pimsleur program.
My fantasy: I would prepare for my trip to Portugal by listening to tapes while driving to work, learning the language naturally, supplementing by skimming the textbook included and using the dictionary/ phrasebook when I got there. The book is written for Brazilian Portuguese even though the tape (and package) is continental. Even the chapter on different dialects misses a wonderful opportunity to make up for this shortcoming by not saying the same word with the different accents, as the book suggests it will-- the tape contains only the continental pronunciation and gives no reference point. Without a huge effort, in a couple months I'd be able to get by.The reality: The tapes contain only a vocabulary list of the words used in the textbook. All the same, I have learned some phrases. Therefore it's impossible to get anything from the tape without reading the book at the same time- can't be used in the car. The tapes would be natural conversations where it would be easy to pick up phrases and pronunciation by context ("what's your name." "My name is Mary", etc). The deviations are noted in footnotes-- but detailed descriptions on how to pronounce everything in Brazilian are hard to get through if it happens to have a different pronunciation on the tape.
The words are all out of context, just a list read aloud. So much for "learning naturally". For a bestseller, I expected a whole lot more. The first five lessons are the hardest to get through, and I probably will get through most of it in a couple months if I don't give up in disgust.
I do find alot of value in the 120+ page appendix, which includes verb conjugations, etc. I'm glad I have this set, since I do use the dictionary extensively. But if you're just starting out, I'd recommend the Foreign Service tapes. I even took it with me to Brazil. The learning book (and two cassettes) is not the best structure for beginners, in my opinion. And if you're interested in contemporary Brazilian music, check out Marisa Monte. Que gostosa.
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